A Second Too Late
by xolovebirdox
Summary: When Fang is out of commission, can Max handle the stress by herself? Or will she realize how much she really does need her right hand man?
1. The Fall

**Hello everyone! Wow, two posts in one day. Must be the pink eye... Anyways, I've had this in my computer for a while, and I decided "Hey, why not post this?" I hope everyone likes it.**

**If you can, review. But even if you can't, ENJOY!!!!**

* * *

The air was crisp and clean as the Flock and I flew overhead, bursting through the clouds and getting our wings slightly damp. Right now was the closest I've come to being fearless. We were soaring through the sky, not caring where we were going, just enjoying the wind beneath our wings. There was no mission, no ulterior motive, no evil scientists waiting to get their latex-glove-covered hands on us. Only some mutant bird kids flying through the sky. Normal, right?

We had just returned to the States after our little stunt in Antarctica and were enjoying the warmth of the air here. We were somewhere around Florida, and it was humid and hot, but pleasant compared to the frigidness of Antarctica. It was so peaceful up here in the sky, with only the occasional bird to fly by. Just me and my flock. My family.

It was actually so peaceful, it got boring. I surveyed the sky around us for the third time, but only saw blue. Nothing. With that, my mind began drifting to all of the events that had happened to us over the past few months-well, one event in particular. A few weeks ago, Fang had kissed me. Again. Only this time, I liked it-maybe even loved it. I pushed him away anyway, reasoning that if we got together, the Flock would be in chaos.

But why? The Flock would accept us, right? I already know Angel knows everything that happened between us, and I think some of the others think that we're already together. And besides, I already knew Fang liked me. He might even love me. But how did I feel about him. Did I-could I-love him? Yes, I think I did. But what if we didn't work out, and what if the Flock doesn't want us together, and what if he doesn't actually like me? What would happen?

My mind was still lingering on this thought when I felt a wing brush gently against mine. I looked to my left, and there he was, looking more perfect than ever.

His long black hair looked slightly windblown from the air. Surprisingly, it was not frizzy from the humidity, like I knew mine was. Black eyes with specks of chocolate bored through my brown ones, seeming to read my mind and every thought that I had just had. His skin was tan and perfect, marred only by the few scars that he had peppered all over him from the many battles and tests. The black clothes that he wore (Yes, black. What did you think he'd be wearing? Pink?) hung loosely off of him, and they looked careworn and faded. I wondered whether he was hot in those. Speaking of hot, his lips were mere inches away…if I moved my head just right, I could…

No. I couldn't think like that. I had already pushed him away for the flock-I couldn't fall for him even more.

"Hey, Max," he said. Even his voice sounded amazing. It was smooth, and when he said my name, my heart did some weird fluttering thing in my chest. I didn't trust myself to use my own voice, so I gave him a curt nod and faced forward again, concentrating on flying. Flying, and nothing else. Up, down, up, down. He noticed my stiffness and instantly became concerned. He frowned. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I managed. In reality, I was the farthest thing away from okay. I was replaying everything that had happened in the last few months between us-the kiss in the cave, Fang leaving, Fang returning, the kiss on the dock, him hanging out with Brigid, whom I now like to call the blonde-haired wonder, me getting jealous about him hanging out with Brigid, and finally, right now. It hurt to remember everything. Fang, of course, saw through my façade and asked cautiously, "You're not thinking about what happened with Brigid, are you?"

How is it that he knows me better than I know myself? I nodded again. Fang sighed. "Max, I told you, nothing happened between us. Anyway, you already pushed me away twice. You can't be jealous of everyone that we meet."

"I know," I replied. He was right. I couldn't keep reacting like this. It wasn't fair to Fang. I swooped down, speeding ahead of the flock until I was at the front. This is where I went when I needed to think about things on my own. And right now, I _definitely_ needed to think.

* * *

Max flew ahead of the rest of the flock. I didn't follow her. I knew she needed to think about things. Namely, us.

Why did she have to care so much? If she didn't care about the Flock as much as she did, we could be together, and I want that more than anything. But her caring about the Flock was one of those quirks I loved most about her. Actually, I loved everything about her.

I loved the way she always pretended that she knew what she was doing, but only told me that she actually had no clue. I loved when she was motherly toward Angel. I loved when she talked to me, even when she made sarcastic comments. I loved the way she walked, flew, moved. And I loved how she was incredibly gorgeous, but didn't even acknowledge the fact. She was enamored by the Flock. And I loved that too.

And I knew Max loved me too, if only as a brother. But if she didn't have feelings for me, then why was she acting so jealous of Brigid? It's not like anything happened. I was just interested in her career choice and thought it was cool that she was helping us and stuff.

But I was pretty sure that Max did love me, deep down. She had to. I could feel it when she kissed me back on the dock. The only reason that she kept pushing me away, I saw then, was because she didn't want us to break up the Flock again. She loved them too much.

I realized that I was falling behind the rest of the Flock. I began to flap my wings a bit faster, as to catch up with them, but found it difficult to do so. "Crap," I thought, "Why can't I flap my wings?" That was pretty much the last thought I thought for a while, because it felt like someone flipped the switch in my mind to "off," and my brain went completely blank.


	2. Black Box

**Wow I am so sorry for the long wait. I kinda got writer's block, and since I just decide one day that I'm going to type another chapter without writing a rough draft, that led to procrastionation and forgetting to write...yeah you get the picture. I think this chapter is pretty good, but that's just me.**

**I'll only know what you think if you review! I'll love you forever if you do!!! Thanks and enjoy!**

**Oh and I always forget to do this, so I might as well say:**

**FOR ALL MY FANFICS: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT THIS PLOT! JAMES PATTERSON OWNS ALL!**

**Yeah that should cover that for now. Okay I think I've typed wayyyyyy too much, so enjoy!**

* * *

I felt it before I heard it.

I was flying ahead of the Flock, trying to sort things out between Fang and I. Was there an…us? Did I want there to be? I was turning this thought over in my head when an aching pain struck me in the side. What could that be? I spun around to look at my side, but all seemed fine.

That was when I saw my Angel's face, the epitome of shock plastered across her sweet, delicate face. "Max!" she screamed, and I zoomed back to my Flock, immediately sensing something wrong.

"Angel, what is it?" I asked. Within the same moment, I realized that Fang was not there. And then I saw her face.

Down.

I jerked my head toward the Earth and sped as fast as I could to the tumbling black figure that I knew was my right hand man. _That_ was why I felt the pain in my side; Fang was in danger. I had felt it occasionally before, but never this severely. Fang must be in mortal danger here.

"C'mon, wings, go faster," I muttered under my breath. I wasn't going to make it-he was already less than 200 feet from the ground. Still, I rushed with all of my speed toward my best friend. I was getting closer, closer, so close that for a second I allowed hope to enter my mind, thinking, _Maybe, just maybe, I could save him…just a few more seconds and I'll catch him like he did for me so many times…just a few more…_

His limp body hit the ground with a thud, thankfully landing in water to break the fall just a little bit. Without even thinking, I dove into the murky swamp. My body didn't even register that it was cold, wet, and tired as I searched. I grabbed him and made a rush for the top, gasping for air as I broke the surface.

"Max, Max!" the rest of the Flock called as their forms descended above me. Their faces were frozen in shock. Gazzy and Nudge had their mouths formed into perfect "O"s, and Angel's eyes were wide with horror.

Iggy, the only one able to stay remotely calm (forget me, I was shaking like the devil as I held Fang's sopping wet body), and suggested that we find a place to settle down before we begin to freak out over this. _Too late,_ I thought as we flew slowly to an undisturbed grove of trees with a clear area in the middle, just big enough for six bird kids and their two dogs.

We set up camp but a dark cloud settled on every Flock member. No one spoke, not even Nudge, until we had all sat down. Then Angel's voice rang out clear.

"I can't hear Fang's mind anymore, Max. I'm scared." It wasn't very often that Angel was scared, and her voice gave me the chills. _What does that mean?_ I asked myself. He could just be deeply unconscious…or worse.

"Max, what happens if Fang isn't okay? I mean, he's like our Dad, there's no way anyone could replace him-no offence Iggy-and so he _can't_ be gone, so we just have to wake him up right?" Her voice trailed off, eyes hopeful, and I smiled at her ignorance.

"Nudge, sweetie, it isn't that simple," I stated matter-of-factly. I leaned down to Fang's limp form, prepared for the worse.

"Is he…dead?" Gazzy asked quietly but strongly, and right then and there I was ready to break down. My Flock was holding themselves together, and I couldn't be more proud. I reached out and put two fingers on Fang's wrist, checking his pulse. It was faint…but there.

"Guys, Fang's gonna be alright," I said, and smiles broke out on every Flock member's faces. I could've sworn that Akila even busted out some pearly whites.

Soon after that, the little ones went to sleep and Iggy settled in for the first watch. I scooted over next to Fang, determined to make it seem like he was alright.

"Dr. Martinez's, right?" Iggy asked, and I nodded before realizing that he couldn't see me. I told him the affirmative, and he simply bobbed his head. "Yeah, I think so too. We need to figure out what's wrong with him. I mean, he seemed fine this morning, right?"

I thought back to our earlier conversation. Yes, he _defiantly_ seemed like his typical, annoying, sarcastic, pushy, gorgeous self. Wait-GORGEOUS? Maximum Ride does not think about people being gorgeous. Jeez, maybe I was going soft in the head or something. Although the way his wings catch the light…and his hypnotizing chocolate eyes-stop it Max! My mind began waging a war against itself until I realized that Iggy was still waiting for a response. I whispered, "Yeah Ig, he was fine this morning. All I know is that we were talking and I flew away for a few minutes. When I turned around he was halfway to becoming a black pancake with extra feathers."

"Hopefully your mom will be able to figure out what's wrong, at least. Max, you'd better get some sleep if you're going to take second _and_ third watch. Goodnight."

I let out a huge yawn and was glad that Iggy thought about that kind of stuff. I muttered a goodnight to Iggy, and then set my head on Fang's chest. What, a girl can't get comfortable around here?

"Goodnight Fang. We'll find out how to get you better, don't worry." I was pretty sure Fang was way past worrying by now, and my little monologue wouldn't help much, but it was more for me than for him anyway. I closed my eyes and drifted off.

In my dream, the Flock was happy and complete. It was a picturesque scene. In the center was me, with Angel in my arms, looking as, well, angelic as ever. Gazzy stood next to us, looking dapper and older. Nudge was gorgeous, her wild black hair neatly braided into cornrows and a huge smile on her face. Iggy stood slightly back, behind Nudge, and though he was blind, it seemed as if he could see everything. And Fang…Fang had his arms wrapped around my waste and had a smile upon his face that lit up the entire picture.

All of us, even Fang, were wearing white. The weather, just like the scene, was perfect. If anyone had passed by and seen us, they would have automatically assumed that I was the mother, Fang the father, and Iggy the uncle, spending time with our kids. And I didn't mind one bit.

My last conscious thought was that I wished that things could be like that forever. Perfect.

* * *

I was trapped in a box. It was all black with no entrances or exits. No way out.

Trapped.

I had no idea how I had gotten here. I was locked up, and it seemed as if no one would let me out. I was scared, fearful, worried, alone.

Millions of questions filled my mind. Most had to do with the box: Why am I in a box? What is this box that I'm in? Why is it so dark? Can I leave the box?

Sometimes I screamed these questions into the air, but of course no one responded except my own voice echoing back to me. Even to my ears it sounded desperate and scared.

There was one question that was really bugging me. I asked it and it bounced off the walls thousands of times until it hurt my ears when I heard it.

Who am I?


	3. Going Back to Civilization

**Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in sooo long (has it been 2 months! wowzerz) but with my school play/testing to get into a school next year/school work for THIS year/writers block, I kinda forgot to update...heh :)**

**But thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy! If you have a spare second or two, maybe you'd like to click on that lovely review button?**

**And you WILL find out what happened to Fang...next chapter! :) hehehe I love being evil! Okay, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own, James Patterson owns all except plot.**

* * *

Let me tell you, waking up from a great dream is so much harder than fighting Erasers.

As the bright sunlight filtered through the clearing, I groaned and shielded my eyes in a vain attempt to preserve that fairytale dream that was already escaping my mind. I could barely remember it as it was, except for that it was very good and that there seemed to be a lot of white…and Fang was in it.

Fang. I had momentarily forgotten about him, but now his problem loomed over me like on ominous cloud, shading everything in its black shadow. I rolled over to my side and turned to look at him. _Maybe,_ a tiny part of me-okay a HUGE part of me-thought, _maybe he was just tired and collapsed. Maybe he's better now?_ With that tiny glimmer of hope instilled into me, I opened my eyes and looked right at Fang.

If anything, he looked worse. A _lot_ worse. His face was smooth, blank, like a baby's, with no thought process apparent. It seemed as though it took a lot of effort just to take one simple breath. His clothes were soaked, and bruises covered his arms (and probably other parts too, but I wasn't about to rip Fang's clothes off just to check) from where he hit the water from thousands of feet up.

"Fang, what _happened_ to you?" I asked aloud, not expecting anyone to hear me. Of course, someone did, and that someone trotted over to me.

"Don't beat yourself up over this, Max," Total advised me, his tiny paws clamoring through the grass. "It's not your fault he decided to fall out of the sky. I remember one time, when I was travelling the world, and this lady ended up tripping over me…" I got up abruptly and headed toward the rest of the Flock, leaving Total to tell his obviously made up story to a comatose Fang.

The Flock was already up and clearing up the campsite. Gazzy was munching on an energy bar and Iggy and Nudge were packing up the backpacks. Angel came over to me, a sad look in her eye. "We need to get Fang to your mom's, Max. I still can't hear his thought, and I'm scared. If he was just unconscious, there would be _something_, but I wouldn't even know he existed if he wasn't right over there." She gave me a big hug, letting me digest all that she had just said. So Fang wasn't just unconscious-something had happened to him. We couldn't afford to waste anymore time;it was not a leisure to us anymore. It was time to leave-and pronto.

"Okay guys, U and A, okay? Angel, I know the directions, so just read them out of my head and lead the Flock, kay?" I did my best to keep my leader voice on, even though I was shaking on the inside. Angel gave me the most angelic smile, and then took off, the others following her lead. Iggy hung back a bit, after the younger ones were already aloft.

"Max, do you think you need help? You know, with…carrying him and all?" Iggy asked tentatively, and for once I was glad he couldn't see. My face must have been a massive array of different emotions at that point-but I composed my voice and replied:

"No, Ig, I think I'm good. You've already got Total _and _Akila. Besides, how heavy can a bird kid get?"

Apparently, very heavy, I soon learned. My arms started burning after only carrying him for an hour. I couldn't stop or complain or anything, because, for the first time in Flock history, not one member of the Flock was hungry. A miracle, right? Not in this case. I was lagging behind the Flock just a bit, but I was close enough to see the glances back at Fang and to hear the worried whispers exchanged between Iggy, Gazzy, and Nudge. I couldn't stop now; I had to make sure Fang was okay.

After another grueling 6 hours of flying (during which, thankfully, Angel and the Gasman got hungry) we finally crossed over the state line of Arizona. Only another few minutes! I could feel the relief in the Flock's voices and saw it in the way they flew. Finally, we began our decent. I looked down at the crumpled black mass that was Fang. His condition had not improved at all, and in fact seemed to be getting worse. We couldn't feed him because of the fear that he would choke and we couldn't change his clothes-totally gross, if you know what I'm saying-because we didn't have any spares. He needed medical help _and_ motherly care-fortunately, my mom could provide both.

I dragged myself to the door, not caring how tired I was, not caring that I was pushing myself to the limit. I was doing this for Fang, and I knew he would do the same for me. I rapped my fist on the door three times, shifting Fang over my shoulder. Finally, after what seemed like hours for my tired body but in reality was actually about 15 seconds, the door opened, and Dr. Martinez stood in the house, a surprised but pleasant look on her face.

"Max! Iggy, Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, Total, and this Akila that I've heard a lot about! It's great to see you all again! But where's…" Her voice trailed off as she saw Fang's limp body. "Oh…come inside, please. I have cookies already made."

And so the Flock and I walked in, where we hoped everything would turn out for the best.

* * *

I still didn't know who I was, but there were some things I did find out. Such as:

Whoever I was, I liked the color black;

Whatever I had done to get myself like this, it had hurt-a lot-but I didn't feel anything;

And boxes make me claustrophobic.

This box in _particular_ seemed just big enough to fit me, but if I walked the walls stretched and grew so I could walk endlessly. Great. It's like I'm a mime-only this is a _real_ box.

I couldn't see anything other than black, couldn't hear anything other than my voice, couldn't smell or taste, couldn't physically feel anything. Emotions were still in my reach, though, and right now I felt scared, lonely, and confused.

_What had I done in my life to deserve this?_

I was convinced that this had to be some sort of afterlife, because place in the living world could ever be like this? There was nothing for the longest while, and then, suddenly there was SOMETHING. A voice-the voice of an angel? No, this could never be heaven. Thoroughly confused, I strained my ears, but I couldn't hear anything. Strangely, it was like I _felt_ the voice, rather than heard it.

There it is again. She said something about a fang. Why would this angel be talking about something so horrible as a fang? As I contemplated this, I felt a swooping sensation from deep in my gut; it was almost like I was flying. _This is so weird,_ I thought, _but it's better than sitting here doing nothing. _Strangely, I had the feeling of déjà vu-but I couldn't have flown in my life, could I? I mused this over as the angel (I decided that these must be the angel's arms, waiting to drop my in the Underworld's fiery depths) continued to carry me in her strong arms.


	4. Is he gone?

_Thwat. Thwat. Thwat. _My feet slapped the floor impatiently as I paced outside of Fang's room. We had gotten to my mom's house three days ago, and there was no change in his condition. Luckily, my mom had extra clothes (don't know what we would do without them…I mean, Fang can't do anything himself. And that means ANYTHING), so we didn't have to flip out over using the Max Ride card (which I lost) or stealing clothes for him anymore. And food was abundant, with pantries overflowing with delicious boxes of cereal, cookies, and, of course, Pop Tarts. All in all, this wasn't a bad place to crash.

Except for the whole, you know, Fang-being-comatose-and-worrying-the-living-hell-out-of-everyone thing. Yeah, other than that it was great.

Mom was making her rounds, checking on Fang. She checks every few hours to make surestable and he can still breathe on his own. It's _that_ bad. As for the Flock, we've all reacted to the sudden absence of my right-hand man different. Nudge has gone from talking insane amounts of jabber in the shortest amount of time possible to saying next to nothing. Ig and Gazzy have stopped making bombs, Total and Akila go for long walks together almost constantly, and Angel is a lot more fragile than usual. I've been trying to hold it together for their sake, but I'm pretty sure it's not working. I'm pretty much thinking about Fang 24/7, and I always wake up with my mom when she's doing her rounds. I never go in though-I don't think I could handle seeing him so…weak. I mean, he's always so strong and always has my back. To see him like this…it would be really hard.

After a few more anxiety-raising minutes, my mom came out of his room, silently shutting the door behind her. One look at her face was all I needed: it was not good. "Max," she began, "I think there's something that you need to see." In her eyes was only sympathy-it must be pretty bad. I can stomach a lot of gross stuff; I've beat Erasers to shreds, seen bones completely come out of the body, and been poked and prodded with needles in pretty much every place conceivable. But this…this was different.

I nodded my head and slowly entered his room. The light streaming through the window illuminated a pale, limp figure with jet black hair and deep circles under his eyes. That couldn't be-was it?-Fang? He looked worse than I thought. I walked up closer and put my hand upon his cheek, which was like a furnace. "Fang, what _happened _to you?" I repeated the question over again, only this time there was no one to distract me. I gently brushed his damp hair back from his forehead and continued. "Why you? Why not me? I mean, I don't think I can do this without you Fang. I…you need to get better. If only I had gotten to you sooner, and pulled you up from the lake a second faster, maybe this wouldn't have happened to you. Maybe this is my fault."

"Max, whatever is happening to him has nothing to do with you or his fall," my mom said as she entered the room. Great. She was eavesdropping again. Who knows what else she heard? I was a bit annoyed, until I heard the next words out of his mouth. "Check his neck, Max. I saw something you might not like."

I froze. His-his neck? Isn't that where our expiration dates show up? How could his be there but me and Iggy be perfectly fine? No, Fang couldn't be dying because that'd mean he'd be leaving the Flock, which he swore he would never do again. He couldn't leave us. I didn't want to see the date-somehow, seeing it would make his death seem more real.

My hand hesitantly and shakily turned his head, revealing his neck. With a gasp, I saw…

Nothing.

Was this a joke? There were no numbers, no letters, no tattoos. I breathed a sigh of relief-Fang was okay! "Mom, mom there's nothing there," I said happily, albeit with much shock. She just shook her head sadly.

"I thought you'd notice right away, Max. Look." And she placed her hand on his neck and pointed. My heart stopped. In my furtive search for the more obvious tattoo of an expiration date, I had missed two subtle little bumps on his neck, right at the tip of his spine. They looked recent, which was a sure sign that something had gotten into him through these holes. I was sure that whatever it was, it had caused Fang's mysterious illness.

"Now do you see, Max?" my mom was saying. "Something is inside of Fang, and it's probably trying to take over his mind. Obviously, Fang doesn't want to lose control, so in order to fight off this…probe…his body shut down to provide more energy for the fight in his mind. But it looks to me like Fang's losing." She said this last part softly, gently, but I was not consoled. How could I be? My best friend, my right hand man, the only one who understands me, could be dying right in front of me, and I couldn't do one damned thing. Not one.

What good was it being alive when the one person who gets you the most could be dead?

"I'm going to come back to run some scans on him and figure out what exactly is in his head. But for now, I'll leave you two alone," my mom said quietly, almost to herself, as she backed out of the room, leaving me and Fang alone.

"You're going to get better, Fang. I can feel it," I lied to his limp figure. In reality, I wasn't sure what I thought anymore. The only thing that I could think about was the thing inside of him. What was it? How had it gotten there? And why him? I _am_ the leader of this band of Avian-Americans, aren't I? Why not target the leader?

And then it hit me.

Obviously, if my mom was going to do some scans, this thing is not natural. It's not a living, breathing creature-it was manmade. And the only place cruel enough to make something like this:

ITEX.

A branch of ITEX still existed, and it was after Fang and the Flock.

* * *

The only solitude from the madness of sitting in this black box all day was the angel. She would talk-to me? or to everyone?-every once in a while, and when she did, I reacted in ways I'd never thought possible. My heart raced, my ears strained to "hear" her voice, and my entire being went into hyperdrive. She kept me sane. Whenever her voice left, I yearned to hear more. I still had no clue who I was or where I was, but it didn't matter when she was talking.

There she is again!

She's still talking about a fang! Some odd feeling at the pit of my stomach occurred when she spoke of it…like it was a long-lost cousin or something. Weird, huh? I could tell the angel was distressed, for her heavenly voice cracked at points. She was talking about death, and her voice was ridden with guilt. "Why not me?" she was saying. What? She was blaming herself for almost killing a tooth! How ridiculous! And yet I could not stop listening, could not stop thinking that somehow, this related to me…

Her voice trailed away, and the sadness quickly overtook me. I sat there, alone, for an immeasurable amount of time. I began feeling a pounding on one of the walls of my box. That's weird-usually, aside from the angel, nothing goes on here. At all. I stood up and walked toward the wall.

_Pow! _I was blown backward by the collapsing of the box wall. A giant creature emerged from the other side. It was a silvery-grey in color, and was spider-like. And, man, was it HUGE! It towered over me as it scuttled to the center of the box and rooted its legs into the bottom. Suddenly, the box wasn't black anymore; it was the exact same color as the spider.

Dread soon washed over me. This wasn't right. This spider was…was taking over my box! But before I could get up to it, a cage suddenly fell on me. I was trapped. Trapped in my own box.

* * *

Fang's eyes opened for the first time in three days. There was only one problem:

A silvery-grey color veiled the brown.

* * *

**So sorry for the wait! I've been a bit busy, but all that should change cuz of the summer (and I'm actually going to start planning out the chapters now...heh). I literally made all of this up on the spot-hopefully it was good!!! And by the way, I changed my pen name from lAnIeSiNsAnEe to xolovebirdox. I dont know why...but it sounds cool! Peace out!**

**Read and Review!!!**

**Oh and as a Disclaimer: I own nothing, James Patterson owns all.**


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